I only bought mine at the start of March this year, but that's fine as buying late is typically what I do with consoles.

Buying in late in the life cycle gives you a far larger library of games to choose from, and very often at highly discounted prices, especially for the older games. Also you tend to get the second generation of the console cheaper, or in the case of the PS4 Pro a significantly enhanced version.

I've always believed that console early adopters get stiffed in terms of the price of the console and expensive limited release titles, and as such I won't be looking at a PS5 until it's been on the market for at least 3-4 years - the only reason I'd buy in earlier is if Sony really go all out on VR.

I was playing solely on the PS3 I got in 2012 until 2016. I feel that if they launch the PS5 really soon, I’d be getting one halfway through its lifecycle or later again. I’m stuck in a cycle of late adoption it seems.

Also, there’s no way Sony would pass up making a dedicated box for the PS5. Screwing over anyone who doesn’t have a Sony TV seems to be one of the most suicidal business decisions ever and I just can’t see it happening. They’re PS team is smart, there’s no way that would happen.

Sooner or later we'll see a new gen PlayStation. What makes me worry is a question of software backward compability and even more - hardware compatibility.

Just bought my G29

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Sony dropped the ball with the PS3 when it comes to backwards compatibility. They changed the inner workings or the PS3 so it was hard to emulate the previous generation. Maybe PS2 and 4 compatible with PS5.

I gave away my PS3 to my brother as a parting gift and bought the PS4 cheap in 2016, as the Pro versions were just released here, I also managed to get a good price on the regular version, which works fine for me.

I guess 2020 is the most realistic year to expect the next gen, 2019 is too early as no PS5 will be unveiled on E3, I also believe Sony wants to cash in more of those PS4 Pro sales.

I'm not sure if I'm upgrading to PS5 though, PS4's hardware is a bit underpowered when compared to 2014's specs, so I'd expect the PS5 to have at least high specs for 2020 to make up for that, or I'm not gonna bother with it.

If you ask me, re-releasing the same console with little upgraded specs to make up for the faults of the original while the original console is only in the middle of its life spam, is something that shouldn't be accepted, we should get a base console powerful enough to handle all of its lifetime cycle without needing re-releases.

Well given the PS4 is my last console I planned to buy given I am getting on in age (42) and my reactions times are not as good as
they once were the expected release date of the next console does not really come as a surprise.

I am sure it will be a new development in gaming technology and I know some might think it nieve but for me the games have got to
the level of quality that I am satisfied with and I can't see me seeing any more improvements than the PS4 and I don't buy many games
these days anyway.

People fail to read and understand the comment. He is speaking of regular ps4 not the ps4 pro. My guess is they will discontinue ps4 and give price drop for ps4 pro. Selling these side by side makes no sense anyways anymore. No ps5 quite yet.

People fail to read and understand the comment. He is speaking of regular ps4 not the ps4 pro. My guess is they will discontinue ps4 and give price drop for ps4 pro. Selling these side by side makes no sense anyways anymore. No ps5 quite yet.

I am sure it will be a new development in gaming technology and I know some might think it nieve but for me the games have got to the level of quality that I am satisfied with and I can't see me seeing any more improvements than the PS4 and I don't buy many games these days anyway.

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This is the thing that perplexes with me with new systems. If you looked at the jump between say, an NES to a Super Nintendo, or the Mega Drive / Genesis to the original PlayStation, the difference was huge. Going from the PS3 or 360 to the PS4 or One isn't that substantial in real terms. Obviously games will become more realistic, and there is technically a lot more going on in new games versus ones released ten years ago. But on the whole the improvements will be minimal for the most part until technology reaches a point where it will literally be better looking than real life.

Well given the PS4 is my last console I planned to buy given I am getting on in age (42) and my reactions times are not as good as
they once were the expected release date of the next console does not really come as a surprise.

I am sure it will be a new development in gaming technology and I know some might think it nieve but for me the games have got to
the level of quality that I am satisfied with and I can't see me seeing any more improvements than the PS4 and I don't buy many games
these days anyway.

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I do tend to agree with you regarding traditional on screen gaming in that it's become more than good enough (mind you I said that about the PS2 nearly 15 years ago). But...

...Personally I think (or I hope) the next major development will be mature VR technology. The PSVR, Oculus, and Vive have given us a useable, and at times very impressive, taste of what we can expect in the next generation - think 4K panels with true 120Hz refresh and a wider FOV. I really do think that VR is the future of gaming. At the moment VR tech is OK - it works and it's immersive, but it's not really ready for prime time consumer consumption, at least from a "must have" perspective, and I'm hoping that the next gen will make VR irresistible for mainstream gaming.

Oh and don't let your age get in the way - I'll be 50 this year and there's no way I'm giving up my tech toys just 'cause I'm pushing well into middle age

Oh and don't let your age get in the way - I'll be 50 this year and there's no way I'm giving up my tech toys just 'cause I'm pushing well into middle age

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I don't plan to stop gaming at all just not buying a new console, I still have PS One/PS2/PS3 as well as the PS4 plus an Xbox One Pro console
(McDonalds Monoply win) so I have more than enough consoles to last my later years with I think and still way too many games to play
through from past and present.

PS3 was released in Nov 2006, & the PS4 in Nov 2013. So, that's a 7 year life cycle for the PS3, whereas the PS4 is only 4 & a half years old. Seems premature to be speaking about it being on it's last legs, & speculating about a PS5.

The only reason for waiting until 2021 is because of that's when MS will release the next Xbox. Despite having the upper hand at the moment releasing a year earlier would hand MS a hardware advantage which would last the generation.

I still remember just as i was getting the dreamcast when that came out, and i still only had a ps 1 console, and seeing in a magazine or something, that sony had the playstation console names copyrighted up to about playstation 6 i think, remember at the time thinking wow..

I wonder how Sony are going to go about making making the current generation obselete. It has been made very clear that every Pro enhanced game must run on the base PS4, but then wouldn't that make all the future-proof talk useless when all developers start focusing on the PS5 alone? The only way around this is making the Pro forwards compatible.

This is the thing that perplexes with me with new systems. If you looked at the jump between say, an NES to a Super Nintendo, or the Mega Drive / Genesis to the original PlayStation, the difference was huge. Going from the PS3 or 360 to the PS4 or One isn't that substantial in real terms. Obviously games will become more realistic, and there is technically a lot more going on in new games versus ones released ten years ago. But on the whole the improvements will be minimal for the most part until technology reaches a point where it will literally be better looking than real life.

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While the diminishing returns are a thing, I personally think part of the issue is a misguided emphasis on relatively minute details at the expense of the bigger picture, including things that can enhance or add to gameplay. One good example would be the supposed selling points of FM5 -- marbles, reflections in the windshield, orange peel in the paint...nothing wrong with that sort of detail itself, but I'm not going to buy a new console for that! For a "next gen" game I expected something more along the lines of PCARS.

Imagine what the PS4 or XBone could already do with object poly counts and texture sizes more like what you find on the Switch -- more objects, larger worlds, denser foliage or crowds, more stuff governed by physics, etc. I wouldn't care if the assets are individually unimpressive. A forest that is truly and legitimately as dense as the real thing, or a rainstorm that dynamically creates pools of water according to landscape drainage, backing up or draining somewhere else if the player interferes -- that would blow me away like the historical jumps you mentioned. That's the kind of jump I'm waiting for next.